The highest-rated filly amongst a group of ten runners in The Bangalore Oaks, confirmed her prime position by storming home to an exciting victory on Saturday. Padmanabhan-trained Balmoral Castle (Spartacus-High Five) put up a fine show by handling the mile and a half trip with a lot of maturity. David Allan's superb handling has to be commended, as this talented professional gave the filly an impeccable ride. By occupying the box seat on the inner rails, thereby forcing the favourite Sun Control to travel wide for most of the way, David Allan rode powerfully in the final furlong to win a tactical contest. It was billed as one of the most "open" Oaks to be run at this centre. None of the fillies had ever handled this gruelling trip before. Racegoers had to look at the pedigrees and the assigned ratings of the handicapper, to gauge their respective chances. On the basis of having maintained an unbeaten record in her three career starts, Irfan Ghatala's Sun Control was installed as the first favourite. As all of them looked well turned out, there was little to separate them on paddock looks. Apart from the Mumbai challenger Scarlette, most of the others including the eventual winner, were easily backable at 10's and over in the betting rings.

Yas Marina and Matias set a moderate pace in the back-stretch and the pair of them was at the helm of affairs till the top of the straight. David Allan and Balmoral Castle travelled comfortably on the rails in third place, while Richard Hughes and Sun Control were looming on her outside. After playing up in the gates, Scarlette lost interest in the proceedings and ran listlessly for rest of the way. The runners began to bunch up at the bend. Balmoral Castle utilized a yawning gap between the leading pair, while Sun Control chose to come on the wide outside. The two of them were much too strong for the others, and it soon became evident that the finish would be restricted to the pair of them. Richard Hughes rode powerfully and forced Sun Control to gain the upper hand, but her dominance was shortlived. Balmoral Castle was refusing to give up on the rails, and in fact, was getting stronger and stronger. David roused her to produce a late effort, and the duo went on to score comfortably. Sun Control ran a game race, but was a trifle unfortunate to have crossed swords with the winner. One Life To Love came with a late bid to save place money for her followers. In all probability, Balmoral Castle shall now join stablemate Kilimanjaro in the Bangalore Derby on Republic Day.

The other attraction in the day's seven-event card was the running of The Kelachandra New Millenium Cup. This terms race over seven furlongs had only six acceptors. The odds board reflected the sentiments of the punters. Cruising, Tomsk, Bhagirathi and Atlantus seemed to have an equally good chance to assert their superiority. It turned out to be a real cracker of a race, and the thrilling finish was a befitting finale to this important event held traditionally at the beginning of each year. After Cruising and Magnanimity shot their bolt in the final furlong, it was left to Bhagirathi, Atlantus and Tomsk to fight out the finish. Suraj pushed Bhagirathi into a slender lead, but was soon joined by Tomsk. With Richard Hughes making free use of the whalebone, Tomsk came flying from the rear. They raced head to head till the winning post, and even the commentator "left it to the judge" while calling out the final stages of this race. The photo-finish camera confirmed that the Irfan Ghatala trained Bhagirathi (Mudeer-Taxido) had lasted out to win by a short-head from Tomsk.

The win astride Bhagirathi completed a fine double for Suraj Narredu. He had started the day with an authoritative victory astride a horse trained by his father. Hard To Pin Down (Puerto Madero-Lamplight) had been a consistent performer this season, and had figured on the board on every single occasion. Even though he had been penalized by the handicapper for each performance, his fans refused to ignore his chances. They supported him at even money, and were thrilled by his performance. Hard To Pin Down tracked Plaka till the bend before making his move. He bounded forward and won easier than the official verdict. Plaka plodded along at the same pace to finish ahead of Beautiful Life and Sun Gold.

Another runner to make a fine impression today was Irfan Ghatala's first timer Tiberius (Rebuttal-Queen Consort). Making his debut over seven furlongs, Tiberius showed that he belongs to a different class. The connections were quite aware of his capabilities, as they went to town backing him down from 5/1 to 2/1 in the betting rings. Even though Richard Hughes had got beaten on Sun Control and Tomsk during the afternoon, he was delighted to have ridden Tiberius to victory. Tiberius was relaxed to run at the tail end of the eleven-horse field, and was asked to quicken in the straight. He came bounding forward and stormed ahead of Mad About You, Current Ray and Star Marquess. He is a hugely talented specimen, and it may be a good idea to support him in his future assignments. Much was expected of Star Marquess, but he performed pathetically. Instead of improving after his only start, he displayed a marked decline in form.

Dominic-trained Still Will (Mischevious Music-Tal) was another fancied runner to score during the afternoon. Running in a handicap over six furlongs, Still Will got up in the last fifty metres to collar a runaway Superb Style. The latter was ridden by apprentice Adarsh, who did not have a whip. With PS Chouhan riding the winner with usual aplomb, there was little that the youngster could do. He surrendered tamely to finish second ahead of Colonel Duff and a fancied Celestial Son. Both Celestial Son and Alpha Baby performed below their normal form, and it would be sensible to ignore these runs as the two of them are capable of much better.

A king size gamble of the Puttanna stable was undone when Sharat Kumar's Voice Of India (Libor-Fabulously Bold) came charging from the rear to topple Amazer near the winning post. Puttanna had subjected Amazer to some steady preparation, and had entered him in a set of his own age group. The horse was backed down to firm favouritism at race time. Allowing Game Dancer, Misty Moonlight, Perfect Analysis and Sweet Timer to lead till the distance post, Krishnan brought Amazer with a run towards the centre of the track. The moment he hit the front, there was a roar from his supporters. However, it soon died down when they saw something rushing from the back. Displaying a remarkable turn of foot, Voice Of India got up on the last two strides to beat Amazer by a short head. Jockey HG Rathod rode a winner after a fairly long time.

A fine display of horsemanship from Sylvester Desouza brought down the curtain on "Oaks" day at Bangalore. Riding a favourite from Dhariwal's stable, Desouza had to use all his skills while cajoling Joriki (Burden Of Proof-Empress Ann) to put her best foot forward. The filly had lost ground at the start and was the last one to enter the straight. Well-backed Romance In The Air had led till from the start and was beginning to send distress signals after turning for home. Hatsuhana had taken charge, and under the strong urgings of Harish, looked poised to score. Not wanting to give up, the Brazilian jockey pulled Joriki out of a traffic jam, and asked her for one last effort. The filly responded gamely by lengthening her strides. Joriki flew home to nail Hatsuhana near the final post. The runner-up can be expected to improve after this start, as she was being campaigned after a fairly long lay-off from racing. Joriki is in tremendous form and is capable of defying the handicapper.